Creativity - for the gifted only?

How creativity can serve you in areas of your life that have nothing to do with art, music, or science.

First, in the domain of business, the economic downturn of the past several years has hit small businesses, large corporations, and individual contractors. If your business is going to fight the uphill battle of survival, you need to find creative ways to cut costs while maintaining quality, provide an innovative product or service rather than the same old product that your competitors are providing, and invent ways to create or maintain market share.

If your business has already succumbed to the economic downturn, you need to be creative in reinventing your professional life, whether it’s using skills you already possess to market yourself or developing a new set of skills to enter an entirely new business or profession. Reinventing your professional life takes creativity and courage. But it can be one of the most rewarding enterprises of your life.

Second, in the domain of family you may be one of millions of parents who are faced with the dilemma of how to pass on family values to children who live more harried lives than most adults did just a generation ago. How do you communicate with a child who, despite your best efforts, is wired 24/7 to an iPod, Facebook, IM, and Grand Theft Auto? How do you impart a sense of balance to a child who is constantly bombarded by media that equate self-worth with anorexic thinness, pleasing a man in bed, or having the athletic prowess of a superhero? You can do it—but as a parent, you need every ounce of creativity you can muster to compete with electronic gadgets and today’s sensationalized media agenda for your child’s attention and subsequent welfare.

Speaking of which, how do you keep yourself balanced when there are so many demands on your time and personal resources? To maintain your energy—and your sanity—you need to find creative ways to manage your time so that you can juggle the demands of modern existence while still ensuring that your hours and days remain rich and meaningful.

In short, creativity is important for artists, writers, musicians, and inventors; but it is also crucial for societies, businesses, and individuals who need to juggle fulfilment with the demands of the rapid-change culture. You not only need to be creative to enhance your life, you also need to be creative to survive.

[Source: Your Creative Brain Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life]